Refrigerator



Nov. 17, 1936. M HQKANSON 2,061,155

I REFRIGERATOR Filed June 25, 1934 ATTORNEY.

INVENTOR.

' Patentecl Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR Minnesota Application June 25, 1934, Serial No. 732,289

14 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators, and has special reference to that type ofrefrigerator commonly used for household purposes and wherein ice is used as the refrigerant.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a. refrigerator suitable for domestic use which will accomplish the' following results:

a. Effect as low a, temperature as possible in the bottom of the box;

difference between the temperature at the bottom of the food compartment and the top of the food compartment is as small as possible; I

0. Effect the removal of objectionable volatile odors given off by the foods in the food compartment;

d. Provide means for cleansing and purifying the air in the food compartment;

e. Provide the proper amount of moisture in the refrigerated air so as to keep and preserve the foods in their natural state for the maximum length of time;and

f. Maintain a uniform condition of the above independent of the amount of food in the food compartment or the amount of ice contained in the ice compartment, and whether the latter is in block or crushed form.

A refrigerator capable of accomplishing the above desired results must embody certain fundamentals of construction, which may be briefly mentioned as follows:

1. The distance of air travel must be as short as possible, consistent with as large a head as possible.

2. The warm air should leave at the top of the food compartment, preferably in front of the box, and circulate under the ice compartment to the back of the box, then vertically down to the bottom of the box, from which point it again enters the food compartment.

3. The air passageways must be so constructed as to eflectminimum resistance to air circulation.

4. The air passageways should be of constant cross sectional area from the time the air leaves the food compartment until it again enters the same; without sudden enlargements or contractions, or sudden changes from one cross-section to another; and without obstructions causing eddies, etc.

5. The area of the cooling surface should be so proportioned that uniform cooling takes place from the moment the air enters the cooling compartment until it leaves the same; which results in uniform melting of the ice.

55 6. The cooling surface, in refrigerators depend- I). Effect rapid circulation of air so that the ing entirely upon conduction for the heat transfer, must be constructed of material of high heat conductivity, of a single minimum thicknessbetween the refrigerant and the air to be cooled,

and be provided with means for the complete and 5 rapid discharge of water from the ice as it melts.

In addition to providing a refrigerator embodying the above mentioned structural'advantages, it is a further object of my present invention to provide an ice rack stamped from a single sheet 10 of material, and at no point having more than a single thickness of the material, and through which the heat must be conducted to the ice.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide a back wall for the food compartment, 15

and a drip pan, which are readily accessible and may be removed for cleansing purposes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in. the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, 20 forming part of this'application, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a refrigerator embodying the invention and taken on the line I-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a similar sectional view taken on the line 2-2, Figure 1. V

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmental portion of the improved ice rack.

Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same. I 30 Figure 5 is a fragmental sectional view, similar to Figure 2, of a slightly modified form of rack and pan. t

In the drawing I represents the food compartment of the refrigerator, 2 the cooling compart- 3 ment, and 3 the refrigerant compartment.

- The food compartment is novel, particularly in that in conjunction with the adjustable and removable baflle or division wall 4, the pan 5 is also adjustable and shown as being hinged as at 6 and capable of being dropped downwardly into the food compartment for cleansing purposes; and the pan may be entirely removed for cleansing, and replaced after such treatment. The pivotal connection '6 is shown as being of hinges ad- J'acent either side of the rear portion of the pan. In this instance the support'for the baflle or rear wall 4 is illustrated as comprising a pair of brackets l fixed to the marginal walls 9 of the opening in the wall which the baflie 4 normally 5 closes. Each of these brackets is provided with a socket like lip 23 into which a' projecting pintle 0f the cooperating brackets 24, fixed to the lower corners of the baflle 4, projects, and thereby provides a sort of socket hinge for the rear wall, permittlng it to pivot thereon, or be readily removed therefrom as circumstances may require.

The ice rack l is-illustrated as being formed from a. single sheet of metaL'pIeferably copper because of its great thermal conductivity, and

ductility, permitting its being stamped into corrugated form. These corrugations are materially deeper at their rearmost ends than at their forward ends, since it is desirable that the cooling surface be so proportioned that the absorption of heat be equal at either end of the rack so as to melt the ice uniformly all across the bottom the top of the rack melts the water would naturthereof. Since this rack is made by deep pressing and forming, the thickness of the metal is not constant, being thinner the deeper the currugations are. It is evident that as the ice on more useful purpose in keeping the non-refrigerated surfaces cool and thus preserve the low temperature of the air on its path to the food compartment. Therefore the quick and complete discharge of the water will give the ice a chance to melt right down to the bottom of the corrugations and contact all the surface of the conductor and thus make a more effective temperature available all over the cooling surfaces. Consequently the lower apex' of each corrugation is perforated as by the relatively small drainage'holes illustrated at It, and these corrugations are designed to extend from front to back of the refrigerant compartment. As before stated; this rack is preferably stamped of metal such as copper, resulting in the lower apexes of the corrugationsbeing materially thinner than the upper apexes of such corruga tions, and, since the corrugations are progressive- 1y deeper toward the back of the rack, the metal would consequently be progressively thinner. Since the conduction of heat from the air to the ice is dependent'upon the thickness of themetal,

the thinner it'is, 'the fastenthe heat of the air will penetrate through the same. For maximum efficiency of the rack in cooling the air, the thinnest part of the metal should be located at the point where the cooled air leaves the rack, and which is accomplished in the above construction.

'In the forming of the rack a sufficient amount of the metal is left across the front and back there- ,of to provide a marginal flange, or frame-like structure l2 which rests upon suitable bracket supports therefore upon the refrigerator walls. The corrugations are deeper at the rearmost end of the rack to compensate for the necessity of greater cooling area due to the air progressively cooling as it passes under the rack in the refrigerating or cooling compartment. It is to be understoodthat the'angular shaped. end walls l3 at both ends of the corrugations of the rack are closed sothat no contact of the circulating air 7 occurs with the ice, excepting-that insignificant amount which might penetrate through the holes I I at atime when the quantity of ice was insufficient to'cover the entire corrugated area of the rack. i

The upper surface of the drip; pan 5 is also corrugated and in parallel relation to the corrugations of the rack-the upper extension of the corrugations in the pan occurringin direct alignment beneath the apex of the corrugations in the rack, the object of which is to insure a complete wetting of the pan with the ice-water and thereby .uniform cooling thereof as well as the air passing thereover. This also increases the splash so as to make better washing and cleaning and humidifying of the air and divides the drippage uniformly so as to assure a uniform drippage throughout the vertical space in the back.

, At the rearmost end of each depressed portion of the corrugations in the pan is placed an arcuately shaped drip wire It so as to lead the water to the center of the vertical conduit or space back of the baflie or rear wall 4 of the food compartment; the-use of wire being for the purpose of obstructing the air passage as little as possible.

The floor of the box, directlybeneaththe conduit l5is inclined backwardly and downwardly as at I6 so that when the drops of moisture fall on said inclined bottom upon either side of thecentral drain ll, the splash will occur backwardly and not into the food compartment, which is essential in preventing the wetting of the back part of the food compartment. The splash also adds to'the washing, cleaning, and humidifying of the air. The free falling of the water drops from the drip page wires on the drip pan to the inclined surface of the back of the bottom of the food compartment will materially increase the rapidity of the air circulation.

In the modified form of rack shown in Figure 5 the corrugations in the rack 20 are shown as being of equal depth throughout, and the pan 2| but slightly inclined to insure proper drainage. This rack does not permit of uniform cross-section of the air passage, and in order to not obstruct the. air inlet the rack has to beplaced higher up in the box and consequently it occupies more space therein. Furthermore" it makes it more uncertain as to the uniformity of the melting of the ice, which is of importance when using block ice as the refrigerant, but this is not of importance when crushed ice is used as the cooling medium. These objections are overcome, however, due to the simplicity of. construction of the rack being considered advantageous, as well as the fact that for the same depth of'corrugation it has practically twicethe cooling area as compared with the first described modification.

In either modification the flare of the corrugations is at least slightly less than vertical so as to i give the ice a chance to melt down to the bottom of the rack and thus thoroughly contact the metal all over the cooling surface.

It is desirable of course that the cross-sectional area of the air passage be maintained constant, with no sudden enlargements or contractions, particularly in the cooling compartment. In this respect it may well be mentioned that in those types of racks wherein the ice melts through the same, and into the air passage, it is obvious that the ice itself then becomes an obstruction to the air circulation, which-is not possible with my improved form of rack.

Furthermore the stamping of the rack provides for very economical construction, of ample structural strength; in fact it may beconstructed of I ductive material of which the rack is formed being thinner in the valleys of the corrugations than at the apexes thereof.

2. A refrigerator of the type described having- 3. A refrigerant rack for refrigerators compris-' ing a body portion of corrugated form, said corrugations being progressively deeper from the front to the back of the rack, and a drip pan the rear edge of which is contiguous to the rear of' said corrugations.

4. A refrigerator of the type described comprising a refrigerant compartment, a refrigerant rack adapted to close circulation of air therethrough,

saidrack being corrugated and the corrugations being progressively deeper from the front to the back of the rack, and an inclined drip pan beneath'the rack, the inclination being such that the cross sectional area of the space between the rack and pan is substantially constant.

5. In a refrigerator, a refrigerant rack comprising a body portion of corrugated form, said corrugations being progressively deeper from the front to the back of the refrigerator, and an inclined drip pan positioned under the rack so that the cross sectional area of the space between the rack and pan' is substantially constant, and thetherein, a combined drip pan and division wall forming the top and back to the food compartment, characterized by the drip pan being pivoted to the division wall and the division wall being pivoted to the sidesofv the refrigerator for convenience in cleansing same.

, 8. In a refrigerator, a rack comprising a' body portion of corrugated'form, said corrugations bemg of substantially V-shapeand progressively deeper from the front to the back of the rack,

and a drip pan, the rear edge of which, is con-.

and cooling compartments therein, a multiple V shaped corrugated rack for the refrigerant, said corrugations being progressively deeper from the front to the back, and a drip pan inclined downwardly and rearwardly for discharge of drippage from the cooling compartment externally of the food .compartment.

10. The combination set forth in claim 9, characterized by the inclination of the drip pan being such as to insure uniform cross section of air pasageway intermediate of the pan and rack.

11. In a refrigerator having refrigerant, food and cooling compartments therein, including a vertically disposed conduit leading from the coolingcompartment to the. food compartment and at the back of the latter, characterized by a narrow marginal fixed wall at the sides and across the top of the rear of the food compartment and defining said conduit including a removable back portion p'ivotally carried upon the lower extremities of the marginal wall, and a drippan defining the top of the food compartment pivotally carried upon the transverse portion of said marginal wall.

12. A refrigerator of the type described having a partition therein spaced'from one wall thereof and forming a confined vertical space between said partition and said wall, and a drip pan hinged ,to the top of said partition and having means extending thereover to convey drippage from a refrigerantto and discharge it into said vertical space to increase downward circulation of air therein.

13. In a refrigerator having a food. compartmenttherein, spaced from one wall of the refrigerator and forming a confined vertical space be-- tween the food compartment and said refrigerator wall, and a drippanadjustably mounted within the refrigerator and-having means extending over said space to drain drippage from a refrigerant to the edge of'said pan and discharge it therefrom into said confined space toincrease-downward circulation of air. therethrou'gh.

l4. The combination with a refriger'aton-pf a combined drip pan and division wall therein.

characterized .by the drip pan being hinged to the top of the division wall, and the ,division wall' with aremovable closure v I-IQKANSON.

having a relatively large opening therein provided 

